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MOLOCHs/t(Choking Hazard) cd 13.98Not to be confused with the Russian black metal Moloch, this Moloch is something much grimier and grittier and doomier, treading a path closer to Eyehategod, and of course the current crop of ultra doomlords like Moss, Bunkur, Monarch, and of course Noothgrush and Corrupted. In fact, if it sounds like we just described your collection, you might as well stop right now and grab one of these, cuz if sloooooow, ultra heavy, doomic crush is your thing, then Moloch will definitely hit the spot. Four songs, 25 minutes, this UK foursome offer up some pretty fearsome heaviness, slipping easily from plodding lumbering slow motion, to swinging stonery groove and back again, the guitars thick and viscous, the drums pounding and pummeling, the vocals a wild shriek. The more we listen to this we're also hearing plenty of Grief and Bongzilla, the riffs like 16rpm Sabbath, the band's crawl druggy and dissonant, but laced with some super swinging NOLA-esque grooviness, and some surprisingly Pantera-ish vox, which makes some of this sound like Down, but only if Down were WAY crustier and filthier and DIY and lo-fi. Which is most definitely not a bad thing. Heartily recommended for you drugged out, stoner rock, ultra doom, slow and low misfits, some seriously crushing black hole brutality, with just enough swing to keep it interesting.Released on the same label that did that kick ass Ghast / Yoga split!
MPEG Stream: "Thy Grief"MPEG Stream: "Who Is This Who Is Coming"

MOLOCHVerwustung(Acephale Winter Productions) cassette 5.98A few lists back, we mistakenly reviewed THIS Moloch tape, instead of the one we actually had in stock (Depressive Black Metal Plague), even though this one had not officially been released. We'll review THAT one next time, but for now, Verwustung is in fact finally out! If you were one of the few folks who ordered the other one, based on the wrong review, but still dug it, you're probably gonna want this one too. For everyone else, here's the RIGHT review for this, the latest from this Ukrainian one man black metal / black ambient project, and while we knew he had tons of releases, it's still hard to believe this is in fact his TWELVTH full length, out of almost NINETY (!!!) releases since 2004 (!!!!). Number twelve, Verwustung, is one of the harshest and heaviest things we've heard from Moloch, grim and brutal, anguished and minor key, the sound raw and fierce, the guitars buzzsaw black, pounding drumming, and some seriously intense vokills, equal parts guttural demonic growl and hysterical shriek, the vibe still darkly depressive, but unlike past records, that depressiveness is on display here mostly in mood and vibe, with the music itself furious and frenzied, relentless and intense, with the sound only occasionally slipping into doomy miserablism, and here and there, exploding into full on noise drenched chaos, that sounds surprisingly psychedelic. But really, Verwustung is just, raw, pure, true, grim Ukrainian black metal, the very essence of cult one man BM, the sound infused mysterious black energy, which is reflected in the opening and closing tracks as well, displaying the other side of Moloch's sound, both haunting, droning, moody and minimal sprawls of black ambient drift...LIMITED TO 50 COPIES!!! Probably the last we'll ever see...
MPEG Stream: "Negativitat"MPEG Stream: "Nur Der Tod Ist Wirklich"

MOLOCH / THOUTears That Soak A Callous Heart(Perpetual Motion Machine / Feast Of Tentacles) lp 12.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Doesn't get much heavier than this. Louisiana sludgelords Thou matched up with UK ultradoom heavies Moloch (not to be confused with the Ukrainian black metallers Moloch).By now, like us, you're probably pretty obsessed with Thou, of the multitudes of practitioners of the incredibly slow and low, Thou probably come closest to capturing the spirit of the bands who got us into that sort of heaviness in the first place, Eyehategod, Bongzilla, Weedeater, Noothgrush, disEMBOWELMENT, Winter, Sleep, 16, Buzzoven, the Melvins, but they do it so well and they do it in a way that few others can, and that's by infusing some serious pop into their sound. Fear not, it's not obvious, not at all, and most folks might not hear it, but it's there, and it transforms their sludge entirely. The first track is the perfect example, sludgy and sour, everything wrapped in a warm distortion blanket. Great vokillz as always. The drums pounding away mercilessly, the guitars sounding like they're in slow motion, churning and chugging, the tone insanely corrosive and blown out, but then there are these intense chiming melodies, that change the vibe completely, some weird hybrid of the Melvins, Nirvana and Eyehategod, slipping from NOLA style Southern sludgey groove, to full on ultradoom plod, to what sounds almost like death metal slowed down to a crawl, to what sounds like their cover of Nirvana's "Sifting", which finally answers our prayers, whenever a killer band does a cover of another band, and it's amazing, and we can't help but wish there was just a band that sounded LIKE THAT, not just when they were covering songs by other bands, well, here you go!! The second track offers up more heavy bliss, opening with a riff like Sleep's "Jerusalem" before the rest of the band kicks in and things get all tense and dark before breaking out into some melodic serpentine riffery. So grim and doomy and sludgy but you can still hear all the definition of the song, before it eventually builds into an ultra depressive lament. Fuck yeah.Moloch counter with some of their own filthy crusty sludge. Opening with a glacial squall of barely moving but steady black buzz riffage. Hardcore vocals and Neanderthal drum pound and knuckle dragging amp buzz that rides out with seemingly infinite sustain, evolving into an abject midtempo sonic beatdown. The second track introduces some groove, but Moloch's idea of groove is way less groovy and way more menacing, the lurching lumbering crush laced with hateful throat shredding howls, and some super harmonic riffage.Super nice woodcut style packaging with a heavy printed inner sleeve and nice thick jacket, pressed on cloudy clear vinyl, LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.

MOLOTHScent Of Blood / Rehearsal 2003 A.B.(Lost Reich) cd 13.98

MOMUS20 Vodka Jellies(Le Grand Magistery) cd 16.98

MOMUSFolktronic(Le Grand Majestery) cd 14.98The prolific, inventive, and cheekily clever Momus is at it again. The last time we heard from him was 1999's Stars Forever on which he performed songs of "patronage pop" (thirty patrons paid one thousand dollars each for the privilege of having a song written specifically about them). Now Momus presents Folktronic. Well, what are you expecting? His trademark fey Scot-boy crooning heavy on the baroque and melodrama but thrown into a hillbilly mountain goldrush-era scene? Well, sort of. Ever-inquisitive, Momus muses over the juxtaposition of the seemingly disparate worlds of folk and electronic to create as he calls it "plastic folk". Always a man with a crazy, novel idea brewing, back in October/November 2000, Momus held court at Folktronia his art installation in NY. It included opportunities for exhibition visitors to sing their own versions of these songs karaoke-style. And as usual he's included complete lyrics so you too can sing-a-long with Momus.
RealAudio clip: "Appalachia"RealAudio clip: "Folk Me Amadeus"

MOMUSPing Pong(Le Grand Magistery) cd 16.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MOMUSSlender Sherbet(Cherry Red) cd 16.98... in which the fine dandy Scot known as Momus remakes his dazzling downer album Tender Pervert. The result a new perhaps odder beauty that can be admired all on its own.

MOMUSStars Forever(Le Grand Magestry) 2cd 14.98 Yet another step in Momus' quest to be the Jeff Koons of indie rock. This post modern putz somehow convinced 30 suckers that it would be worth $1000 to have a crappy electro-pop song with inane lyrics written in their honor. There is some history behind it, like he got sued for ripping off somebody else's song, or something equally as lame. The patrons of this collection include a few stores (Other Music, Reckless Records), a few indie establishments (Team Clermont, Minty Fresh), the aforementioned Jeff Koons, and a bunch of dilletantes we've never heard of. That said, Cup, a Momus fan since the days of 'Tender Pervert' must raise her hand in defense of Momus. Although she too balks at the lofty price tag, she admires Momus' musical diversity, and thinks the idea's pretty darn clever and funny. By the way, the $30,000 went towards his legal bills 'cause he got sued by Wendy Carlos. Oh yeah, and there's also a 'bonus'...eight Momus karaoke parody contest winners' tracks.

MON COUSIN BELGEQuelle Horreur(World Famous in San Francisco) cd 14.98Over the last couple years San Francisco's Mon Cousin Belge have earned quite the reputation for their raucous, theatrical and dazzling live performances. And in a city that's got such a great history for campy, subversive and wonderfully queer art and music it's actually kind of sad to say that it's becoming more rare to find a really good charged and dazzling homo-rock band around these parts lately. Luckily Mon Cousin Belge have been filling that void quite nicely. With a sound equally influenced by glam-rock, torch songs and the sparkling seedy side of high octane pop, Quelle Horreur is an action packed flamboyant and proud album that fits perfectly in any record collection containing the soundtrack to Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Ziggy Stardust era Bowie, Sparks, B-52's and Nina Hagen. With song titles like "Tweaker Bitch", "Sodomy" and "Pigdog" and the trashy chops to back it all up, someone really needs to get this in the hands of John Cameron Mitchell and John Waters as this could be their new favorite band!
MPEG Stream: "Unicycle"MPEG Stream: "Sodomy"MPEG Stream: "The Crossing"

MONADEA Few Steps More(Too Pure) cd 13.98Previously a side project collaboration between Pram's Rosie Cuckston and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, Monade has blossomed into a full band fronted by the dulcet-toned Ms Sadier, and well... they reeeeeeally sound like her other band! Her legions of fans probably knew that this release was on its way eons ago, and therefore don't need us to tell them that it's finally arrived. For those less rabid, we'll let you know that this is the group's follow-up to their 2003 debut Socialisme ou Barbarie (The Bedroom Recordings), and as can be expected, it's a much more fleshed out and polished affair. Back-to-back listening of this and the recent reissue of Stereolab's 1992 debut Switched On makes for a dreamy, sunny afternoon double scoop! Sure to please Stereolab and Sadier lovers everywhere.
MPEG Stream: "La Salle Des Pas Perdus"MPEG Stream: "Das Kind"

MONADEMonstre Cosmic(Too Pure) cd 13.98Oh, Latetitia Sadier you can sing in our ear anytime! Of course best known for her main groop, Stereolab, Sadier has also kept busy over the years with her project Monade, an outfit that leans much more toward the laid back elements of Stereolab. Monstre Cosmic finds Monade in top form, with rich and lush instrumentation, a range of tempos and of course Sadier's trademark suave vocals, in French and sounding so damn irresistible! The color palette that Monade's songs invoke are just as wide and dazzling as those of Stereolab with enough highs and lows to keep you on your toes but with just the right feeling of comfort to makes you want to just dive into these sounds and stay forever, and bask in their swirling melodies and groove filled charm. Like so much of her best work, we love how the songs unfold and reveal more of themselves with repeated listens. Monstre Cosmic sounds great on first listen but it's when you begin to get hooked and are listening over and over again that you really begin to fall in love with this batch of musical goodness. Laid back without being lazy, driving and catchy without being too perky. It's just the right ingredients mixed and made with total pop perfection. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Regarde"MPEG Stream: "Tout En Tour Est Un"MPEG Stream: "Lost Language"

MONADESocialisme ou Barbarie (The Bedroom Recordings)(Duophonic) cd 14.98Monade started as a 1996 joint side project of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier and Pram's Rosie Cuckston, with Sadier making the bulk of the tracks in more recent years. Here then is Monade's debut full length, licensed from Duophonic by Drag City here in the US, which includes the impossibly rare tracks and other out of print gems, along with new material. As expected, the music is akin to Stereolab's bubbly, melodic electronica albeit with a bit more of a lo-fi bedroom feel, with strummed guitars, a light touch on the synth effects, and Sadier's comforting French croon.
MPEG Stream: "Enfin Seule"MPEG Stream: "Sunrise Telling"

MONAE, JANELLEArchandroid(Bad Boy / Wonderland) cd 14.98Ambitious album that goes in many different directions form spiritual jazz to classical to folk and dance floor excursions. There are some really amazing moments on here, but there are some misses as well.

MONARCHA Look At Tomorrow / Mass Death And Destruction(Heathen Skulls) 7" 11.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Disclose and Discharge covers!! One sided, and etched!

MONARCHDead Men Tell No Tales(Crucial Blast) 2cd 14.98For a band who supposedly broke up, Monarch sure have managed to put out a whole bunch of music, post mortem. And while this is funeral doom and everything, we're not talking some Biggie Smalls / Tupac Shakur music from beyond the grave thing (although you never know!), it seems the announced breakup was premature, and lucky for all the doomongers among you, the Monarch is alive and (un)well. Avid readers of the AQ list should need no introduction to French downtuned slow motion sludge doom trio Monarch. A band truly worthy of many multiples of 'o's (dooooooooooooooooooooom), whose plod and crawl is so slow it often veers near static drone territory, and who also manage to deftly mix in a bit of subtle loveliness into their harsh metallic trudge, AND whose peculiar sense of humor, and album art, and unlikely front woman, definitely make them stand out in an increasingly crowded field...For those new to Monarch let's recap shall we?Quite possibly the world's only female fronted deathdoomdronedirge outfit. An unholy mix of Khanate, Corrupted, Bunkur and Moss, but with a petite young French woman on lead vocals, usually clad in Converse hightops, a skirt and a sweater, hair in a pony tail, no tattoos or spikes or leather, but when she opens her mouth, out comes the foulest demonic shrieks and hellish gurgles you have EVER heard. Certainly from a woman, maybe from ANY one, man, woman or beast. Then there are the record covers, always covered in grade school like doodles of cute big eyed skulls, puffy ghosts, burning churches, and hearts all over the place. They're like a Sanrio doom band. And not surprisingly are obsessed with Hello Kitty (their email address is sanriosabbath!!). But eyes closed, and these guys and gal can most definitely hold their own amongst the slow motion elite. With the added bonus of a singer who can actually sing and does occasionally, adding a definite creepy melodic moodiness to the music. So this double disc collects two ultra limited lps (the band seem to lean toward lps, AND double cds, with songs clocking in at 10, 20, sometimes 30 minutes), one that we carried a while back and sold out in the blink of an eye, the massive and amazing Speak Of The Sea, and weirdly enough, another 2 song lp, that's not really out yet entitled appropriately enough Die Tonight. So what has us so smitten with Monarch? Besides the above that is? Let's start with Speak Of The Sea, a massive pummeling wall of headsplitting ultra doom, an impossibly glacial plodding thud wrapped in ear shredding sheets of corrosive feedback that will tear your insides out and fill your ears with black tar. A gorgeously dense. ultra caustic and corrosive funereal doom that manages to be dreamy and darn near pretty while it's pummeling you to death. Easily one of the slowest heaviest dooooooooom records ever, three looooong tracks. Each so slow it's almost ambient. It's a bit like listening to SUNNO))) or Earth 2 when some caveman drummer decides to crash the party and start drumming slowly along. Riffs stretched out into huge droning smears of black rumble, ringing and reverberating, pulsing and wavering unsteadily before the next ten ton riff drops. Each track is a slow plodding ultradoomscape, like the ultimate doom metal intro stretched into actual songs, smeared across nearly an hour. The vocals don't even come in until the first song is almost over, a shrieking black coda, after twenty minutes of slow burning doom drone tension. The second track features some distant Ozzy-like crooning way off in the distance before the scowling growl kicks in. So slow and heavy. On the AQ doooooomscale, this ranks more O's than we could possibly include in this review! And for the cd release, they've tacked on a whole 'nother song to the first disc (album), a creepy, pretty near ambient crawl, nothing but the sound of the surf crashing on the shore, a thick hissy staticky sound, slowly swelling and drifting, very meditative, with hushed urgently whispered vocals hovering above the crashing sea, very strange, but quite nice. Then we get to Die Tonight, a record most of us (if not all of us) have not heard until now. And if anything it's everything Speak Of The Sea was and MORE. Heavier (as if that were even possible), slower (ditto) and more blurred out, buzzy and dronelike, with bits of the song so blissed out, the drum hits and chaotic crashes are so far apart, you can almost forget you're listening to a doom band, wallowing in the glorious shimmering drones of the drawn out chords, before a howled shriek and a massive crunch knocks you near out of your seat. There's also more singing, with gorgeous drifting vocals that hover alongside long stretches of buzzing guitar making for haunting harmonies, giving the proceedings brief moments of surprising tranquility. And the vocals continue to twist and turn, from hushed and whispery, to girlish and sing songy to inhuman demonic screech, all the while, the band trudging along dronelike, weaving impossibly pretty soundscapes from downtuned crunch and skull cracking thud.This is absolutely essential doom. If you like Esoteric, Boris, Moss, Bunkur, SUNNO))), Earth, Esoteric, Skepticism, Eyehategod, Marzuraan, Atavist, Catacombs, Khanate, Pale Horse, Monument Of Urns and you NEED this! And the drifting drone element is in full effect, so those who have yet to dabble in the doom pool, might check this out, the long drawn out shimmers and Niblock like layers of guitar rumble might hit the spot and have you digging deeper for more and more dooooom.Gorgeously packaged in a black gatefold, printed in silver ink, decorated with big eyed ghosts, a sailing ship with upside down crosses and a heart on the sail, lots of stars, some cute birdies, and an anchor with a heart on it. Inside are two silver on black printed inserts, with all the lyrics, the liner notes and a thanks list that says it all: Moss, Noothgrush, Otesanek, Corrupted, Bastard Noise, Rainbow Of Death, Nuit Noire and of course "our lucky stars"!
MPEG Stream: "Speak Of The Devil, Speak Of The Sea"MPEG Stream: "Winter Bride"

MONARCHDie Tonight(Throne) lp 16.98Back in March we made the double cd Dead Men Tell No Tales, by France's Monarch, our Record of the Week. A crushingly heavy, breathtakingly beautiful slab of ultramegadooooooooom divinity. That record just so happened to combine two lp releases, Speak Of The Sea, that we listed a long time ago, well before the cd came out, now sadly out of print, the 12" that is, and this one, Die Tonight, that in some strange rupture in the space time continuum arrived months after the cd version. But regardless, if you had been holding out, waiting for Speak Of The Sea's vinyl companion, wait no further. And heck, if you're new to the whole Monarch thing, by all means, this is as good a place as any to start. Here's an altered version of the cd review, focusing just on the Die Tonight half:Avid readers of the AQ list should need no introduction to French downtuned slow motion sludge doom trio Monarch. A band truly worthy of many multiples of 'o's (dooooooooooooooooooooom), whose plod and crawl is so slow it often veers near static drone territory, and who also manage to deftly mix in a bit of subtle loveliness into their harsh metallic trudge, AND whose peculiar sense of humor, and album art, and unlikely front woman, definitely make them stand out in an increasingly crowded field...For those new to Monarch let's recap shall we?Quite possibly the world's only female fronted deathdoomdronedirge outfit. An unholy mix of Khanate, Corrupted, Bunkur and Moss, but with a petite young French woman on lead vocals, usually clad in Converse hightops, a skirt and a sweater, hair in a pony tail, no tattoos or spikes or leather, but when she opens her mouth, out comes the foulest demonic shrieks and hellish gurgles you have EVER heard. Certainly from a woman, maybe from ANY one, man, woman or beast. Then there are the record covers, always covered in grade school like doodles of cute big eyed skulls, puffy ghosts, burning churches, and hearts all over the place. They're like a Sanrio doom band. And not surprisingly are obsessed with Hello Kitty (their email address is sanriosabbath!!). But eyes closed, and these guys and gal can most definitely hold their own amongst the slow motion elite. With the added bonus of a singer who can actually sing and does occasionally, adding a definite creepy melodic moodiness to the music. So what has us so smitten with Monarch? Besides the above that is? Well just lend an ear to Die Tonight, a heavier and slower (if that were even possible) partner to Speak Of The Sea. It's somehow also more blurred out, buzzy and dronelike, with bits of the music so blissed out, the drum hits and chaotic crashes are so far apart, you can almost forget you're listening to a doom band, wallowing in the glorious shimmering drones of the drawn out chords, before a howled shriek and a massive crunch knocks you near out of your seat. There's also more singing, with gorgeous drifting vocals that hover alongside long stretches of buzzing guitar making for haunting harmonies, giving the proceedings brief moments of surprising tranquility. And the vocals continue to twist and turn, from hushed and whispery, to girlish and sing songy to inhuman demonic screech, all the while, the band trudging along dronelike, weaving impossibly pretty soundscapes from downtuned crunch and skull cracking thud.This is absolutely essential doom. If you like Esoteric, Boris, Moss, Bunkur, SUNNO))), Earth, Esoteric, Skepticism, Eyehategod, Marzuraan, Atavist, Catacombs, Khanate, Pale Horse, Monument Of Urns and you NEED this! And the drifting drone element is in full effect, so those who have yet to dabble in the doom pool, might check this out, the long drawn out shimmers and Niblock like layers of guitar rumble might hit the spot and have you digging deeper for more and more dooooom.Gorgeously packaged in a off white matte sleeve, a simple illustration in black, and little cartoon stars in metallic silver. Also includes a big fold out poster of the record cover. And as always. EXTREMELY LIMITED. Once these are gone we probably can't get more.
MPEG Stream: "Winter Bride"

MONARCHMer Morte(Crucial Blast) cd 13.98We've worshipped at the altar of Hello Kitty obsessed French ultradoom trio (now quartet) Monarch for years and years now, harboring a secret crush on Monarch frontwoman Emilie and a not so secret crush on their absolutely pummeling black cloud of sound. Originally released as a super limited lp on Spanish label Throne Records back in 2008, this two part doom drone dirge epic, is now available on cd, the separate sides, "Mer" and Morte" now reunited into one single sprawling nearly 35 minute opus, a glacial expanse of creeping crawling detuned drift, of psychedelic black ambience, of tarpit doomic dirge, of extreme abstract heaviness, of near static pummel. As gorgeous as it is harsh, as heavy as it is atmospheric, the drums so spare, the drummer has time to go outside for a smoke between snare hits, riffage so lugubrious that SUNNO))) sound like speed metal in comparison. Think Flood era Boris, Corrupted, Moss, Bunkur, Khanate, Orthodox, Catacombs, but then slow it down even more, take those sounds and smear them into washed out blurs, the vocals a distant mewl, an occasional shriek, the cymbals unleashed in hazy clouds of sizzling shimmer. The guitars heavy for sure, but the riffs allowed to ring out and fade to near silence, before the next one hits, more than any of the other Monarch records, Mer Morte finds the band exploring ambience as heaviness, allowing long stretches of guitar rumble to drift unaccompanied except for some hushed wordless crooning.The second half, formerly just "Morte", cranks up the tempo to a blasting (well, for Monarch at least) 10 or 12 bpm, the vocals way more intense, and in the mix the Khanate vibe is much more obvious, a pounding hellish dirge, utterly intense and cathartic and emotional and brutal, but after a few minutes, the drums drop out, and the guitars are left to drone and undulate and pulse, streaked with feedback, a gorgeous blackened dronescape, peppered with occasional drum pound, but any semblance of 'beat' has been jettisoned, the record plays out, a trancelike stretch of downtuned doomic minimalism, laced with more of those ethereal ghostlike vox, haunting and mysterious and otherworldly, and grimly beautiful.Gorgeous packaging too, a four panel gatefold Stumptown sleeve, with gold metallic ink on black matte. So cool.
MPEG Stream: "Mer"MPEG Stream: "Morte"

MONARCHOmens(At A Loss) cd 14.98The latest from these French ultra doomlords (and lady) begins all spaced out and ritualistic, shimmering clouds of metal, keening feedback, a droned out psychedelia that almost sounds like some modern take on legendary Japanese psychdrone gurus the Taj Mahal Travellers, but before long, that ritualistic drift collapses beneath the weight of crushing downtuned riffage, and pounding slow-motion drum pummel. But as with other recent Monarch records, the group have definitely managed to create a sound all their own, moving well past trudge and lumber, churn and crush, toward something a bit more blissed out, and definitely more droney. While the sound is rooted in roiling riffage, the riffs are underpinned by distant layered vocals, giving the sound a distinctly psychedelic vibe, and then the vocals proper kick in, they're feral and feminine, none of that gurgling or growling, instead a wild witchy wail, almost punk sounding, providing a strange sonic dichotomy, but one that make this way more interesting than your average dirge. Not to mention all manner of strange percussion, muted melody, and some surprisingly lush textures, wreathing everything in a softly psychedelic swirl, hazy and druggy, and surprisingly dreamy and meditative, especially the second half, which gets all blissed out, warm and whirling and super hypnotic. And that's just the first track. After a bit of an interlude, the blackened ambience of "Transylvanian Incantations", all murky voices and glimmering high end shimmer, the band finish things off with the 19+ minute "Black Becomes The Sun", the guitars gristly and oozing crumbling distortion, the sound seeming to drift toward classic doom metal, but then the vocals come in, all ethereal and angelic, and the whole sound is transformed into something much more washed out and shoegazey, almost like an ultradoom 4AD sort of sound. Partway through, the song shifts, and an avalanche of drum chaos launches a much harder and harsher second half, much sludgier, and crustier, the melodies of the first half still present, but beneath shards of feedback, and tangled howled vox, moments of true doom splintering into hellish downtuned crush and back again, the drumming mathy, the banshee vocals soaring and swooping wildly over the top, Monarch again managing to make a sound hellish and heavy, into something hypnotic, and weirdly, and grimly lovely. Killer black on black artwork, housed in a 6 panel style fold out digpak style sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Blood Seeress"MPEG Stream: "Transylvanian Incantations"

MONARCHs/t(Throne) 2cd 14.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY. The debut double disc from our favorite French Hello Kitty slow motion sludge doom power trio is back in print! All of you who are just now discovering you have a taste for the ultra doooooom, the slowed down filthy creep and crawl of downtuned guitars and slow slow riffage, skull cracking drum pound and harsh hellish vocals... well, don't hesitate a single second, you MUST own this. You thin Khanate is heavy? Well what if Khanate was fronted by a cute French girl with a thing for cute Japanese cartoon characters? Sold yet? You should be. Here's our review from when we had this in the first time around:In lieu of the long rumored 3cd, 3 hour, single song Corrupted record (that may be a rumor but we DID finally get the new single disc, single hour long track cd El Mundo Frio, still waiting for the triple...) all you drone doom sludge freeks can hold yourself over with this black hole heavy slab of utter crush and total annihilation. Two discs, almost ninety minutes, THREE TRACKS, of impossibly downtuned, ridiculously slow, creeping crawling funereal sludge doooooooooooooooooooom (that's right TWENTY o's, this is some serious doom). This French three piece (four piece at the time this was recorded) trudges the same long, slow and blackened ultradoom path as Khanate, Burning Witch, Corrupted, Boris, Bunkur, Moss and the like. Sounding a bit like Eyehategod, trapped in some sort of dimensional time rift, so each riff is stretched out into an entire song of chugging tarpit riffs, squealing solid state feedback and pounding percussion, each beat so far apart, it's unclear whether the drummer actually plans on coming back with another. And of course insane vocal chord shredding shrieks. Howling banshees and hellish demons ain't got nothing on Monarch's vocalist, who, it might be interesting to point out, is in fact a woman. Not that you would necessarily guess from hearing her demonic screech. But there is definitely a feminine sensibility going on with Monarch. The sort of cutesy heart album cover. The cartoony artwork and website. The random bits of Sanrio silliness, and lots of taking the piss out of black metal and corpsepaint and the whole macho metal thing. Monarch are most definitely the slow motionist, crust sludgiest, Satan worshippingest, Sanrio obsessedist, Sabbath fixatedist, cute girl frontedist band in the world!
MPEG Stream: "Dead Men Tell No Tales"MPEG Stream: "Les Lumieres Have Been Blown Out"

MONARCHSabbat Noir(Heathen Skulls) cd 14.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.We listed this on vinyl a few lists back, the most recent epic slab of slow motion dronesludge dirgery from these French doomsters. The vinyl is now out of print (though we still have a couple!), but now it's on cd, which in some ways is even better, as it's a single track, which on the lp was split in two, but here has been restored to it's singularly epic sprawl...Here's what we had to say about Sabbat Noir the first time around:Latest from these French ultra doom sludgelords and sludgelady, a single album-long track, an oozing, lugubrious, blackened slow motion tarpit crawl, and if it was even possible, Sabbat Noir sounds and feels even more abstract and spaced out than any of the other Monarchs, which is saying a lot. Sabbat Noir is also the band's first proper full length to feature their new drummer, Robert from the Grey Daturas, who makes himself right at home, his spare hard hitting style perfectly suited to Monarch's weirdly dreamy doomic drift. The record/song begins with a dense cloud of rumbles and whirs, a slow motion sub-SUNN guitar crawl, wrapped in shimmery cymbal sizzle, an epic, smoldering, slow building low end creep. Thick, almost liquid guitars ooze beneath abstract drumming, the hits ages apart, long stretches of layered guitardrone, a nearly stalled doom, that hovers and floats more than crushes or pummels. The vocals exist way off in the distance, haunting and spectral, just another layer of slow shifting sound, which gives way here and there to hushed ambience, it's not so much a song as a sound, drifty and shimmery, and nearly ambient, it's not until halfway through that things get a little mathy and metal, the riffs coalescing into black hole crunch, the drums pounding out an almost-rhythm. The song continues its tarpit creep, streaked with feedback, the vocals moving gradually to the fore, their presence more intense, the riffs coalescing into a more traditional doom, mournful and melancholy, like Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride, but slowed waaaaaay down, the now shrieked vox drifting over this lumbering swoonsome dour doomic miserablism, a gorgeous, desolate, somber dronedoom, that slowly sheds the doom, eventually blissing back out into some more blackened guitardrone dreaminess.The cd packaging, like the lp packaging, is incredible, super glossy, metallic prismatic jackets, you have to see them to believe them, easily one of the coolest looking covers ever, the front cover the Monarch logo all shiny and metallic over what appears to be hair, but follow that hair to the other side of the sleeve where you'll find a sexy evil pic of Monarch's vocalist Emilie all corpsepainted and hoTT!
MPEG Stream: "Sabbat Noir (excerpt 1)"MPEG Stream: "Sabbat Noir (excerpt 2)"

MONARCHSabbat Noir(Heathen Skulls) lp 32.00THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Latest from these French ultra doom sludgelords and sludgelady, a single song spread out over two lp sides, a sprawling, lugubrious, blackened slow motion tarpit crawl, and if it was even possible, Sabbat Noir sounds and feels even more abstract and spaced out than any of the other Monarchs, which is saying a lot. Sabbat Noir is also the band's first proper full length to feature their new drummer, Robert from the Grey Daturas, who makes himself right at home, his spare hard hitting style perfectly suited to Monarch's weirdly dreamy doomic drift. The record/song begins with a dense cloud of rumbles and whirs, a slow motion sub-SUNN guitar crawl, wrapped in shimmery cymbal sizzle, an epic, smoldering, slow building low end creep. Thick, almost liquid guitars ooze beneath abstract drumming, the hits ages apart, long stretches of layered guitardrone, a nearly stalled doom, that hovers and floats more than crushes or pummels. The vocals exist way off in the distance, haunting and spectral, just another layer of slow shifting sound, which gives way here and there to hushed ambience, it's not so much a song as a sound, drifty and shimmery, and nearly ambient, it's not until near the end of the first side that things get a little mathy and metal, the riffs coalescing into black hole crunch, the drums pounding out an almost-rhythm. The side ends, and the song picks right back up on the flipside a la Lynyrd Skynyrd, more tarpit creep, streaked with feedback, the vocals moving gradually to the fore, their presence more intense, the riffs coalescing into a more traditional doom, mournful and melancholy, like Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride, but slowed waaaaaay down, the now shrieked vox drifting over this lumbering swoonsome dour doomic miserablism, a gorgeous, desolate, somber dronedoom, that slowly sheds the doom, eventually blissing back out into some more blackened guitardrone dreaminess.The packaging is incredible, super glossy, metallic prismatic jackets, you have to see them to believe them, easily one of the coolest looking covers ever, the front cover the Monarch logo all shiny and metallic over what appears to be hair, but follow that hair to the other side of the sleeve where you'll find a sexy evil pic of Monarch's vocalist Emilie all corpsepainted and hoTT, the records are pressed on 180 gram vinyl, and of course LIMITED TO ONLY 400 COPIES!!!

MONARCHSabbracadaver(Profound Lore) cd 13.98First new full length in two years from this French ultradoooooooom combo, the lineup now expanded to include SEVEN players, fronted as always by ultra-cutie Emilie Bresson, whose wholesome appearance and Hello Kitty obsession does nothing to dull her demonic bellow - although here, the opening track starts off hushed and dreamlike, with Bresson crooning dreamily, over a slow, smoldering doomscape, but it's only a matter of minutes before she lets loose with that banshee wail, doused in delay and reverb, allowed to slowly decay, and fade gradually into the whirling blackness below, the band quickly locked into a death march creep. The processed vocals get almost dublike at points, processed and layered, and that had us wishing they almost went all out, and applied some King Tubby action. While it's not quite that crazy, it does get pretty psychedelic, as all the while, the riffage churns and roils and thick swells of darkly melodic slo-mo sludge unfurl dreamily. The vibe at times is almost tranquil, less ferocious and furious and more mesmeric and hypnotic, especially when Bresson adds her sweetly shimmery croon, and when the guitars join along, it's like the Monarch version of 'classic' doom, but before long, the sound splinters and collapses, and we're right back into another stretch of downtuned demonic trudge, those heavily effected vocals swirling into crazy, blown out howls, blurred into thick vocal smears. And so it goes, the three songs here essentially part of the bigger whole, three movements bleeding into one singular ultradoom epic, laced with moments of hushed beauty, as well as abject sonic brutality, the band deftly navigating a slow moving psych-doom dirge, employing a new set of dynamics and subtleties that were maybe not so evident on past records, making much of Sabbracadaver sound downright subdued, some of it properly lovely as well, but those moments are more than made up for by many more moments of shrieking fury and skull caving, soul shearing pummel.Super swank packaging too, a stark black and white digipak, with clear spot varnish printing, and a booklet with strange, shadowy, ritualistic photos inside.
MPEG Stream: "Pentagrammes"MPEG Stream: "Louves"

MONARCHSortilege(Heathen Skulls) cd ep 14.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.In transit across the Pacific for months now, we had almost given up, but this grim little slab of droned out ritualistic slo-mo sludge finally showed up from Australia. Previously a tour only release from this aQ beloved female fronted French ultradoom horde (now featuring Robert Macmanus from Grey Daturas on drums), Sortilege is a single 11 minute track, and is of course everything we (and you) have come to love about Monarch, sprawling expanses of low end buzz, deep drones, minimal drum pound, blurred downtuned guitarage, but "Sortilege" is something a bit different, with the song never fully exploding into actual churn and crunch, instead, it seems to be Monarch's take on black ambience, and we have to say it most definitely suits them. The sound atmospheric and haunting, the rumbling buzz of the guitars a thick backdrop for all manner of wordless vocalizing, of warm washed out streaks of feedback, of buried melodies, and constantly shifting textures, not harsh or heavy, but still harrowing and haunting, the eleven minute running time is a bit frustrating, cuz this is the sort of jam you want to keep going and going and going. But otherwise, a seriously dense slab of hypnotic blackened drift, a sonic full moon ritual, corpsepainted and candelit, deep in the forest, in some underground cave, the sounds seeping from beneath the ground, and enveloping the listener like some grim black cloud. Awesome. Really swank reflective black digipaks, with some super striking photos of frontwoman Emilie, multiple Emilie's in fact, face painted, dagger in hand, presiding over the ritual, whose soundtrack is captured on Sortilege.
MPEG Stream: "Sortilege (excerpt)"

MONARCHSpeak Of The Sea(Throne) lp 16.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.We sure are going to miss Monarch. In a black and sludgy sonic world, they were a little ray of sunshine. Errr. Well, not really. But they did manage to infuse their tarpit doomdeathdronedirges with a goofy sense of humor, without turning Monarch into an ironic pisstake. So here it is. The final missive from France's Monarch. Possibly the world's only female fronted deathdoomdronedirge outfit. Imagine Khanate or Corrupted or Bunkur or Moss, fronted by a slight young French woman, in a sensible skirt and blouse, hair pulled back in a pony tail, somehow emitting the sort of vulgar demonic yowls that usually come from some stooped hunchbacked axe wielding hairy beast. Thus is the magic of Monarch. their records are decorated with cute doodles, cartoons of burning churches, big eyed skulls, and hearts everywhere. They have an unhealthy obsession with Hello Kitty, their email name is sanriosabbath for chrissakes! How can you not help but be cuted-out by these cute little doomsters? Well, the massive pummeling wall of headsplitting ultra doom might be a start, the impossibly glacial plodding thud and the ear shredding sheets of corrosive feedback help too. However mislead you might be by the cuteness on the outside, be prepared to have your insides torn out and your ears filled with black tar by the caustic corrosive funereal doom on the inside. Easily one of the slowest heaviest dooooooooom bands in the world, this is quite a swansong. Two side long tracks. Each so slow it's almost ambient. It's a bit like listening to SUNNO))) or Earth 2 when some caveman drummer decides to crash the party and start drumming slowly along. Riffs stretched out into huge droning smears of black rumble, ringing and reverberating, pulsing and wavering unsteadily before the next ten ton riff drops. Both tracks are slow plodding ultradoomscapes, like the ultimate doom metal intro stretched into actual songs, smeared across both sides of the record. The vocals don't even come in until the song is almost over, a shrieking black coda, after twenty minutes of slow burning doom drone tension. The B-side features some distant Ozzy-like crooning way off in the distance before the scowling growl kicks in. So slow and heavy. On the AQ doooooomscale, Monarch rank more O's than we could possibly include in this review! So sad these doomlords (and doomlady!) are hanging it up. But what a way to go. Essential doom. If you like Esoteric, Boris, Moss, Bunkur, SUNNO))), Earth, Esoteric, Skepticism, Eyehategod, Marzuraan, Atavist, Catacombs, Khanate, Pale Horse, Monument Of Urns and you don't have any Monarch in your collection, get with the program! Or else we'll have Miss Monarch come over there and stomp you to death with her Hello Kitty Keds!Beautifully packaged in thick black sleeves with red text, the cover is a doodle of a big eyed skull being stabbed by big knives, over a glowing heart. Includes a big poster, a Monarch calendar, marking the dates from 6/6/6 until 7/7/7, the year of the Monarch!! Each lp hand numbered in metallic marker.LIMITED TO 666 COPIES. WE GOT 50!! It's already out of print so once these are gone they are gone for good.

MONARCH / GREY DATURASDawn Of The Catalyst(Throne) 12" 19.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Finally! Been waiting for the vinyl version of this for a while now. Taking the slow boat all the way from Spain, but it was well worth it, sounds awesome, looks amazing. Metallic gold and black on shimmery silver matte finish, all new artwork. SUPER LIMITED, we got a bunch, but we won't be able to get more. Here's more about the music inside:A while ago we were informed that French ultradoom combo Monarch had called it a day. We were crushed. One of our favorite purveyors of filthy slow motion doooooooooom, fronted by a woman, a rarity in doom for sure, and with a penchant for smiley skulls and Hello Kitty. A band that seemed tailor made for the very bizarre tastes of the AQ faithful, seemed to be no more. But before we could begin our campaign of mourning, black clothes spray painted with cute skulls, black Hello Kitty armbands, we discovered that in fact we were misinformed, or maybe the band had taken a break, or something, but we cared not, for whatever reason, Monarch was still alive, and would live to doom another day. And doom they did. Gracing us with more and more glorious downtuned heaviness, including their bad ass cover of Turbonegro's "I Got Erection"!So now that we're pretty comfortable with the continued existence of our favorite cute doomsters, we can wait patiently for each new, massive slab of harsh slow motion glacial dooooooooooooooooooooom. And for folks new to Monarch, don't go expecting this to actually -sound- cute. They may be fronted by an adorable French girl, who spins playfully on the beach in their videos, but when she opens her mouth to sing, it's the sound of blackness and misery, a demonic caterwaul, unrivaled by most male metal vocalists. And sure the art on their records may be cute cartoon burning churches and big eyed ghosts, but the sounds inside are slow and black as tar, guitars tuned so low they rumble instead of roar, drum beats so far apart, the drummer can probably smoke a cigarette between beats. And we're happy to report that this 16+ minute chunk of doom is all that and more. The more being the haunting ethereal female vocals partway through... Crushingly heavy, weirdly beautiful. A plodding symphony in slow motion. Essential Monarch beautiful brutality.The surprise here is the Grey Daturas track, also a 16 minute epic, that on first listen sounds surprisingly doomy, and a lot like the Monarch track. The Daturas are often heavy, but rarely doomy like this, but it suits them. And they pepper their doom with all sorts of sonic weirdness, bits of electronic fuckery, strange modulated feedback, subtle FX, until about 13 minutes in, when the song suddenly morphs into a muted wall of smeared and crumbling white noise, a blast of blurred sound that eventually fades into nothingness. Pretty amazing stuff, from both bands. Doom hounds will be well pleased.
MPEG Stream: MONARCH "Rapture"MPEG Stream: THE GREY DATURAS "Golden Tusk The Endearing"

MONAURALMonitor Interference(Ba Da Bing!) cd 12.98Michigan space rockers Monaural have altered their extraterrestrial trajectories from propulsive Fuxa / Windy & Carl style drone to the dub filtered electronica of bands like Pan American and Labradford. Beautifully lazy Hammond organs, phased guitars and sleepy delay make this one of the best dreamy/sleepy/mopey electronica records we've heard in a while.

MONDE BRUITSs/t(Alchemy) cd 21.00THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.A collection of previously unreleased stuff from this Japanese noise maven. With Jojo of Hijokaidan on one track. For fans of Monde Bruits previous album from years ago on Charnel Music, here at last is some more of his noise-stylings.

MONDO GENERATORCocaine Rodeo(Southern Lord) cd 13.98Stoner rock from this side-project of the Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss bass player. A little more "punk" sounding than those bands, in parts, but there's plenty of extended psych guitar jamming as well.

MONDSAALEight Revelations(Winter Solace) cd 11.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Shambling from the darkness of Saint Petersburg's deepest wooded overgrowth into the even darker darkness of Saint Petersburg's dankest dampest cave (we presume), comes Mondsaal! An entirely new prospect to us, this bizarre disc of murky, woozy Russian cosmic hatefulness arrived seemingly out of nowhere, but we're finding ourselves pretty damn smitten by its lurching weirdness. The esteemed Encyclopaedia Metallum describes Mondsaal as "dark/black metal", and we have to say "dark metal" is a pretty great way to describe these weirdos. Aesthetically it's sort of black metal. There's Burzum-esque midpaced plodding, there's otherworldly synthesizer strings draped over almost everything, but there's also a thick murkiness to their sound that feels more reminiscent of Swedish crypt-dwelling death metal or the warm bloodletting anesthesia of funeral doom bands like Skepticism or Until Death Overtakes Me. Even the mid-range vocal growls lean more towards the death than the black, and the blast beats (on the rare occasion that they do decide to show up) are eerily slow and shambolic. It's a sound that's strange, sorrowful, damaged, ugly, but weirdly warm & enveloping all at the same time. The constant droning of soft synth pads and the squonking of dissonant horns (yes, that's right, there's horns) stand in stark contrast to the naked writhing ugliness of everything else that's happening, and the result is pretty psychedelic & spacey (in a bit of a similar way to the Dunnock/Intergalactic Holocaust split we reviewed on the last list!). The whole affair closes out with a hazy ritualistic rainy desertscape ambient piece, leaving the impression that you've just passed through some living slow motion morphine nightmare. It's a pretty entrancing experience - either hideously beautiful or beautifully hideous, we're not sure yet, but either way: very very recommended. FYI, though, as you may or may not know, a lot of Russian (and other) black metal is, rather absurdly, Nazi-leaning, and while there's nothing about this Mondsaal that we can tell that's overtly NSBM, it however is on a label that seems to have some sympathies in that direction at the very least. Fair warning if that is going to bother you.
MPEG Stream: "Mysterious Drop"MPEG Stream: "Minutes Of Hell"MPEG Stream: "Crystal Song"

MONEY MARKAt the Little Tokyo Giant Robot Factory Studios(Giant Robot) 7"flexi 2.00THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.We've got some of the last few copies of the limited 7" flexi that was in selected copies of a recent issue of Giant Robot (note: not the brand new issue reveiwed elsewhere in this issue). It's 2 dollars and has 4 exclusive tracks recorded right at Giant Robot's studio.

MONEY MARKBrand New By Tomorrow(Brushfire) cd 14.98While he does still inject a little funkiness here and there, Money Mark has grown progressively more pop and less soul over the course of his last few albums. His Beastie Boys days are a distant memory. No complaints here. He does it all utterly effortlessly and with such an easy charm. His new album is his most completely soft rock/pop to date. Brand New By Tomorrow is brimming with solid songwriting and performances in the tradition of Elvis Costello or Joe Jackson. No, they aren't gonna burst out and grab you by the knickers, but with each subsequent listen they'll snuggle up closer and closer until you just can't live without 'em.
MPEG Stream: "Color Of Your Blues"MPEG Stream: "Pretend To Sleep"

MONEY MARKChange Is Coming(Emperor Norton) cd 16.98Gotta say, I really liked Money Mark's first two full lengths. His instrumental debut "Mark's Keyboard Repair" and the more pop song-packed follow-up "Push The Button" were both fun and quirky. Well, this release sees The Mark returning to the solely instrumental realm. A slight disappointment for me. Simply put this is a well-executed, pleasant, easy-listenin' soundtrack. A nice laid-back listen filled with his usual funky grooviness, but lacking in heft or substance. Mind you this finds its home on Emperor Norton Records... not a label known for raising a ruckus.

MONEY MARKChange Is Coming(Emperor Norton) lp 14.98THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Gotta say, I really liked Money Mark's first two full lengths. His instrumental debut "Mark's Keyboard Repair" and the more pop song-packed follow-up "Push The Button" were both fun and quirky. Well, this release sees The Mark returning to the solely instrumental realm. A slight disappointment for me. Simply put this is a well-executed, pleasant, easy-listenin' soundtrack. A nice laid-back listen filled with his usual funky grooviness, but lacking in heft or substance. Mind you this finds its home on Emperor Norton Records... not a label known for raising a ruckus.

MONEY MARKDemo? or Demolition?(Chocolate Industries) cd ep 11.98Hurrah, Money Mark is finally back with a new six-song EP (his last full length was 2001's Change Is Coming)... and they're a pretty darn great half dozen we might add! The title suggests a new unpolished test-run versus a tearing down of something already established, but this album is really neither. His trademark easygoing funky soul pop blend hasn't faded a bit. Fans will be happy to hear that old familiar MM melodica wheeze and noodly organ coming through their speakers. Oh so charming, catchy and groovy, he makes it seem so easy! If there's anything different about today's MM, it might be that his vocals have grown more akin to those of the ever-boyish Elvis Costello. Which is definitely not a bad thing! Great warm, laidback tunes for that time of year when the gold of the summer sun moves on to the gold of the autumn leaves.
MPEG Stream: "Livid In A Madman's Hell"MPEG Stream: "Break Open My Shell"

MONITORs/t(Superior Viaduct) cd 14.98This is a weird one, the latest from local reissue label Superior Viaduct, who have so far reissued recordings from Factrix, Black Humor, German Shepherds, Noh Mercy, and the Sleepers, and even still, amongst some seriously weird company, this might outweird them all! We had never heard of Monitor before (although we just learned Scott is a big fan!), apparently the musical offshoot of a seventies LA art collective called World Imitation Productions, who fused modern technology with more archaic influences, and whose music somehow struggled to sonically represent that hybrid. The group was part of a loose group of like minded outfits, know as the Associated Skull Bands, which included Nervous Gender, NON, among others, but even amidst a weirdo Hollywood punk scene, Monitor proved too much for the not so weird weirdos. And hell it's easy to see why listening to this now. The record opens with queasy synths and ominous rumbles, from which emerges a minimal rhythm wrapped in primitive synths, peppered with burst of drum freakout, and angular fuzz guitar, super hypnotic and darkly dirgey, the vocals are breathy and reverbed, dueling boy girl voices, trancey, and woozy, the guitars seem to grow more detuned, the sound seeming to fray at the edges, super psychedelic and crazy creepy cool. That's the core sound of the group, the drums driving most of the tracks, the guitars and synths doled out a bit more judiciously. The track "Mokele-Mbembe" lays down a sinewy bassline, and some tribal drumming, and then over the top, the group deliver some very straight ahead sounding African high life style vocals. "In Terrae Interium" drapes distorted guitars, over a dirgey rhythmic stumble, tangled vocals croon and moan over the detuned dirge, super trippy and abstract. And so it goes, the group unfurling twisted ditties, rhythmic and playfully synthy one second ("Herb Lane Theme"), distorted and and almost carnivalesque the next ("Amphibious"), replete with weezing organ and angular guitar skronk, cold wave twee pop one second ("Pavillion"), minimal washed out drone-psych doom creep the next ("Phosphorea"). And when they came up with a song that required more rocking than they were equipped to do, well hell, they just hired it out, in this case, to the Meat Puppets, who kick out the jams on "Hair", a fierce staccato punk rock blow out, all howled vox, swirling sci-fi synths, noisy buzzy guitars, serious drum pound, squiggly Black Flag like leads and some seriously harsh vox! Almost wish Monitor had written a whole record for the Meat Puppets. The reissue tacks on a handful of bonus tracks to the nine from the original 1981 album, which like the record proper are all over the place, from murky rhythmic minimalism, to wild squiggly angular electro-punk to tripped out backwards recorded noise experiments.
MPEG Stream: "We Get Messages"MPEG Stream: "In Terrae Interium"MPEG Stream: "Amphibious"MPEG Stream: "Hair (Performed By The Meat Puppets)"

MONITORs/t(Superior Viaduct) lp 15.98Also now on vinyl!!This is a weird one, the latest from local reissue label Superior Viaduct, who have so far reissued recordings from Factrix, Black Humor, German Shepherds, Noh Mercy, and the Sleepers, and even still, amongst some seriously weird company, this might outweird them all! We had never heard of Monitor before (although we just learned Scott is a big fan!), apparently the musical offshoot of a seventies LA art collective called World Imitation Productions, who fused modern technology with more archaic influences, and whose music somehow struggled to sonically represent that hybrid. The group was part of a loose group of like minded outfits, know as the Associated Skull Bands, which included Nervous Gender, NON, among others, but even amidst a weirdo Hollywood punk scene, Monitor proved too much for the not so weird weirdos. And hell it's easy to see why listening to this now. The record opens with queasy synths and ominous rumbles, from which emerges a minimal rhythm wrapped in primitive synths, peppered with burst of drum freakout, and angular fuzz guitar, super hypnotic and darkly dirgey, the vocals are breathy and reverbed, dueling boy girl voices, trancey, and woozy, the guitars seem to grow more detuned, the sound seeming to fray at the edges, super psychedelic and crazy creepy cool. That's the core sound of the group, the drums driving most of the tracks, the guitars and synths doled out a bit more judiciously. The track "Mokele-Mbembe" lays down a sinewy bassline, and some tribal drumming, and then over the top, the group deliver some very straight ahead sounding African high life style vocals. "In Terrae Interium" drapes distorted guitars, over a dirgey rhythmic stumble, tangled vocals croon and moan over the detuned dirge, super trippy and abstract. And so it goes, the group unfurling twisted ditties, rhythmic and playfully synthy one second ("Herb Lane Theme"), distorted and and almost carnivalesque the next ("Amphibious"), replete with weezing organ and angular guitar skronk, cold wave twee pop one second ("Pavillion"), minimal washed out drone-psych doom creep the next ("Phosphorea"). And when they came up with a song that required more rocking than they were equipped to do, well hell, they just hired it out, in this case, to the Meat Puppets, who kick out the jams on "Hair", a fierce staccato punk rock blow out, all howled vox, swirling sci-fi synths, noisy buzzy guitars, serious drum pound, squiggly Black Flag like leads and some seriously harsh vox! Almost wish Monitor had written a whole record for the Meat Puppets. The cd had 3 bonus tracks, this doesn't, but does a include digital download of the album.
MPEG Stream: "We Get Messages"MPEG Stream: "In Terrae Interium"MPEG Stream: "Amphibious"MPEG Stream: "Hair (Performed By The Meat Puppets)"

MONK MINK PINK PUNKissue #6magazine 4.50THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Special issue of this always cool Austin, Texas-based music 'zine. What's so special about it? This features essays, graphics, etc. by eighteen sound artists, among them John Hudak, Francisco Lopez, Seth Nehil, Iancu Dumitrescu, Ana-Maria Avram, Giancarlo Toniutti, and Brandon LaBelle. Monk Mink Pink Punk's editor Josh Ronsen started by asking these artists "How do you choose/develop your sounds?" and "How do you place them in time?", questions that remain the theme of this issue even if not all participants limited themselves to a direct response to those queries. 20 double-sided loose pages wrapped in an aluminum foil cover, limited to 100 copies. Unique and quite interesting.Also, creative sleepers might be interested in knowing that Josh is still accepting submissions for the upcoming issue #8, which will be a collection of reviews of "records heard in dreams"...email to jronsen@my-deja.com for more info, or visit http://www.nd.org/jronsen on the web.

MONK, THELONIOUS5 By Monk(Doxy) lp 24.00

MONK, THELONIOUS5 By Monk(Doxy) lp 24.00

MONK, THELONIOUSAlone Is San Francisco(Doxy) lp 24.00

MONK, THELONIOUSAlone Is San Francisco(Doxy) lp 24.00

MONK, THELONIOUSIn Italy(Concord) lp 17.98

MONK, THELONIOUSMonk(Columbia) cd 6.98**SALE **SALE* *SALE**Originally released in 1965, Monk featured Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums, along with Monk himself tickling the ivories of course. Beautiful ballads and blues here, both originals and standards. Includes "April In Paris", "Teo", and "Panonnica". Jaunty, classic stuff. This version also appends 3 extra bonus tracks to the album, and comes complete with new liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "April In Paris (Take 6)"MPEG Stream: "Pannonica (Retake 2)"MPEG Stream: "Teo (Album Version)"

MONK, THELONIOUSMonk(Columbia) cd 6.98Originally released in 1965, Monk featured Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums, along with Monk himself tickling the ivories of course. Beautiful ballads and blues here, both originals and standards. Includes "April In Paris", "Teo", and "Panonnica". Jaunty, classic stuff. This version also appends 3 extra bonus tracks to the album, and comes complete with new liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "April In Paris (Take 6)"MPEG Stream: "Pannonica (Retake 2)"MPEG Stream: "Teo (Album Version)"

MONK, THELONIOUS QUARTET WITH JOHN COLTRANEAt Carnegie Hall(Blue Note) cd 17.98Long lost in the Library Of Congress, now out on cd! As archival jazz releases go, this is a big deal. And you can see why if you just go look at who the artists are.

MONKEES, THEHead(Rhino) lp 29.00

MONKEES, THEHead(Rhino) dvd 17.98Psychedelic, surreal, bizarre, expansive, campy, politically charged, charming, stylized, kitschy, technicolorful, captivating. Oh my god, what the heck could all of those adjectives apply to? The Monkees' Head of course! Yup, it is all of that and so much more! If you've passed on watching Head in the past because you saw The Monkees' name on it, you've been seriously missing out on a work that is *exactly* whatever you might think The Monkees and their music was, but it also reaches far beyond their scope as well as that of more shall we say 'serious' auteurs... and successfully so. Co-written and co-produced by Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson, this 1968 movie continues to kick ass almost forty years after its original release. Seriously, DO NOT MISS THIS!

MONKEES, THEHeadquarters - Collector's Edition(Rhino) 2cd 25.00A couple of years ago you might've heard us gushing about how happy we were that the Monkees' movie Head had finally been released on dvd. If you somehow missed it, please visit our review AND see the movie posthaste! Well, we're happy to report that much like they did for the early Bee Gees' albums (which we were equally stoked about!), Rhino Records has reissued three early Monkees' full lengths in deluxe 2cd editions -- 1966's self-titled, 1967's Headquarters, and their fourth full length Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn And Jones Ltd. Many might still scoff at this band as being prefab pretty boy fluff, but hearing these albums today just may quell the doubters for good and (re)charm fans of '60s pop, both of the innocuous vanilla and more wildly tripped out flavors. Sure, they could dish out the toothsome teen idol syrup scientifically formulate to make the young girls swoon, but they could also nail a fantastic pop hook, a paisley psych trip-out, a solid country rock bootstomp, and more. Yep, they had their fingers in pretty much every musical style of the decade, and they (yes, along with some expert producers and other songwriters) pretty much expertly navigated each one of them. Album highlights: the delicious pop of "You Just May Be The One" and the comparatively bizarre "Randy Scoue Git"!These deluxe versions include mono and stereo versions, bonus rare tracks and plentiful liner notes and photos. Above all else, these reissues are simply a damn delightful good time!
MPEG Stream: "You Just May Be The One"MPEG Stream: "Randy Scoue Git"

MONKEES, THEPisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. - Collector's Edition(Rhino) 2cd 23.00A couple of years ago you might've heard us gushing about how happy we were that the Monkees' movie Head had finally been released on dvd. If you somehow missed it, please visit our review AND see the movie posthaste! Well, we're happy to report that much like they did for the early Bee Gees' albums (which we were equally stoked about!), Rhino Records has reissued three early Monkees' full lengths in deluxe 2cd editions -- 1966's self-titled, 1967's Headquarters, and their fourth full length Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn And Jones Ltd. Many might still scoff at this band as being prefab pretty boy fluff, but hearing these albums today just may quell the doubters for good and (re)charm fans of '60s pop, both of the innocuous vanilla and more wildly tripped out flavors. Sure, they could dish out the toothsome teen idol syrup scientifically formulate to make the young girls swoon, but they could also nail a fantastic pop hook, a paisley psych trip-out, a solid country rock bootstomp, and more. Yep, they had their fingers in pretty much every musical style of the decade, and they (yes, along with some expert producers and other songwriters) pretty much expertly navigated each one of them. Album highlights: "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday"! Yeah, we know those are obvious choices, but can you blame us? Pop doesn't get much better than this!These deluxe versions include mono and stereo versions, bonus rare tracks and plentiful liner notes and photos. Above all else, these reissues are simply a damn delightful good time!
MPEG Stream: "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round"MPEG Stream: "Pleasant Valley Sunday"